By CHAN LI LEEN

PERTH:
Malaysia is encouraging Australian beef producers to get halal
certification from the Depart­ment of Islamic Development Ma­­laysia
(Jakim) to boost meat supplies in the country, said Veterinary
Ser­vices Department director-general Datuk Dr Abd Aziz Jamaluddin.

The
move, he said, was not solely for the purpose of addressing the
shortage of meat in Malaysia but aimed at penetrating the halal food
market in Australia.

“Our hope is to import halal beef from
Australia to be processed into beef patties, frankfurters and satay for
sale in their country. This could earn Malaysia RM200mil annually,” he
said after visiting the Harvey Beef abattoir in Harvey, about 140km
south of here, yesterday.

Dr Abd Aziz said this was not possible
now as Australia did not allow the entry of processed meat products
from Malay­sia as it was not free from the foot and mouth disease.

“We’re negotiating with them to let us export these products using meat from their country instead.”

At present, only nine beef abattoirs in Australia have been given halal certification by Jakim.

Earlier
during the visit, Harvey Beef sales executive manager Justin Croser
said they were keen to apply for halal certification from Malaysia.

Harvey
Beef is a major supplier of halal beef to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Indonesia and Singa­pore and to Muslim communities in the
Philippines, Japan, China, Mauri­tius and Africa.